@norcalfightmma

@norcalfightmma Podcast

Oscar ‘Superman’ Martinez had decided to retire from MMA after his upcoming bid for a belt on November 18, 2017, though any final word on the matter, according to Martinez, will actually be determined by a twelve-pound stipulation.

Before Martinez enters California Fighting Championship (CFC) 1 to meet Steven Cartwright for the CFC Lightweight Title, the long-time resident of Sonora appeared on Episode 86 of the @norcalfightmma Podcast (link here) to discuss the trophy he expects to wrap around his waist at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds. Not only will the shiny hardware mark an unforgettable memory for Martinez in MMA, the audience discovered the CFC crown at 205-pounds will simultaneously serve as an anchor, harboring the hard-hitting combatant with over a decade in the sport for just a little bit longer.

Much like Martinez’s strategy for Cartwright at CFC 1, he shot from the gates upon his introduction to the show. After the host of the @norcalfightmma Podcast, Dave Madden, welcomed Martinez and outlined that CFC 1 would be his final contest, Martinez immediately invited listeners into his mindset as a competitor.

“Here’s the thing: before we get into that [retirement], if I do get a title, you’re not really a champion until you defend it.” Martinez continued, clarifying his position on closing the door to his life as a professional prizefighter, “I kind of threw that [retirement] out there, but I don’t want this guy [Cartwright] to think that if he beats me, he retired me—because he didn’t. If I win that title, I will defend it. I was thinking about it, and—honestly—I do want that belt. But I want it to be something I earn and defend.”

Since retiring from MMA has become en vogue, for any doubters of Martinez’s willingness to walk away, he recalled his slot as the headliner was initially designed as a send-off into the sunset in his own backyard.

“He [Cartwright] and I used to be friends. He crossed the line a few years ago, and we were supposed to fight a year ago. He hurt his knee.” Although time heals wounds, Cartwright, as Martinez continued, still simmered in animosity, “I got over the issue we had, so it was no longer an issue. One night, in the middle of the night, at 1:14 am, I get a text message from Al Joslin that said, ‘Hey, Steven Cartwright sent me a message that said he wants to fight you.’ I roll over and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight him,’ and then went back to sleep. A bunch of promoters were coming up here and trying to get a show up here, and I was like, ‘Hey, if you let me be the main event, I’ll help you drive this [CFC 1] through.’ That was my asking gift: let me fight at home for my last time because, like I said, I was retiring.”

As the days to CFC 1 disappear from the calendar, the vision Martinez musters for how things will play out with Cartwright for CFC’s Light Heavyweight Championship could mean: Northern California’s MMA collective can expect to catch Martinez in the cage sometime soon.

“How I see it going: he comes out jab, jab, head kick—oh shit, he got taken down and beat the fuck up.”

While the foresight of CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) has caught the eye of the MMA community, no matter which side of the fence you’re on, for their vision to improve fighter safety with more regulation in regards to weigh-in procedures and weight classes, which was detailed in a ten-point plan as reported by MMA Junkie (link here), their oversight in other capacities often goes unnoticed.

Although the words pulling your eyes across the screen could be interpreted as slams on CSAC, ways to score points as if winning a round, the intent is to highlight, even in 2017, the sport of mixed martial arts—a sport nearly thirty years in the making—drags far behind the times.

In Episode 26 of the @norcalfightmma Podcast (link here), Tyler Diamond (8-0) appeared on, what was planned to be, a show designed to revisit a dominant performance over Nathan Stolen, an opponent who refused to fully wilt under excessive pressure, at Tachi Palace Fights 31 on May 18, 2017. Within the episode’s first few syllables, Diamond excavated for listeners how archaic the practices actually are of those in charge of ‘regulating’ and ‘standardizing’ MMA.

Days after the final bell rang at TPF 31 and Diamond was awarded immaculate scorecards from the judges: 30-25, 30-25, and 30-26, his eye, visible through NorCal MMA’s YouTube channel (link here), was still dark enough to act as a portal into another dimension. Immediately, Diamond cut to the heart of the matter with clarity, “Dude, Tachi pissed me off real bad. They need some help on certain things.”

Though Diamond’s finger pointed at the promotion, TPF, he was actually spearing CSAC with his frustration. At the conclusion of Diamond’s featherweight bout with Stolen (link here), viewers don’t require degrees to determine his eye demanded more than a band-aid. When Diamond made his way backstage to see a physician, nobody could have possibly imagined what he encountered next:

“Well…I got cut and needed stitches, and the doctor didn’t have any numbing solution.” Even if Diamond was willing to show his hardness and be stitched without applying a local anesthetic, it didn’t matter because, as he elaborated, “I didn’t get stitched up because: he only brought one needle, so he could stitch one person, even though three people needed stitches.”

For every inch of blame Diamond casts onto others, he’s willing to fall a mile on his own sword. During the interview, Diamond declared his level of fault in the matter by forgetting grease—a coat of Vaseline on the face to prevent cuts, but something as simple as grease should be at a corner’s disposal at each and every event. The grease isn’t the issue that is slippery to the understanding, and according to Diamond, he wouldn’t have been surprised to discover, based on the doctor’s actions—or lack thereof, sherdog.com‘s stream of TPF 31 was actually aired as a string of cave paintings:

“It just goes to show how caveman days MMA is still. It still needs to advance, a lot. I have nothing good to say about the California State Athletic Commission because, ultimately, it’s all kind of their fault. They hired an incompetent doctor; their people don’t have grease—I mean: that’s my fault, but that does happen at least once every show; and they don’t have that (grease) just in case that does happen. But the doctor not having numbing solution and not being prepared to stitch people up…[T]hat’s their bad.”

Not only do prospects out of Team Alpha Male obtain a fighting style under the watchful eye of their ‘General,’ Urijah Faber, they also share his inherent trait of perpetual positivity. Just as the athletes who step inside the cage evolve their game on a daily basis, CSAC should lock their decision-makers between walls and keep them there, well beyond any championship rounds—if necessary, until many, seemingly preventative, issues are corked; otherwise, the office can expect to encounter numerous messages, much like the one Diamond delivered, in the future:

“If anyone ever watches this (Episode 26 of the @norcalfightmma Podcast on YouTube) from CSAC, I think you guys need to step your fucking game up; that’s for sure. I like saying positive things, but, quite frankly, I don’t have a ton of positive things to say about them.”